Flexible antennas and related apparatuses and methods

Abstract

Embodiments of antennas over flexible substrates are described herein. Other embodiments and related methods are also disclosed herein.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus comprising:
 a substrate; and   an antenna layer over the substrate;   wherein:
 the substrate is flexible; and 
 the antenna layer is configured to flex with the substrate. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 one or more semiconductor devices over the substrate;   wherein:
 the antenna layer comprises a portion of a structure of at least one of the one or more semiconductor devices. 
   
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
 one or more thin film transistors over the substrate, the antenna layer defining an antenna over the substrate and comprising a portion of the one or more thin film transistors;   a processor at the substrate and at least one of (a) a transmitter at the substrate and coupled to the antenna layer or (b) a receiver at the substrate and coupled to the antenna layer, the processor being coupled to the at least one of the transmitter or the receiver;   a dielectric layer between the substrate and the antenna layer; or   a ground plane over the substrate, the antenna layer being located at a first side of the substrate and the ground plane being located at a second side of the substrate and opposite at least a portion of the antenna layer.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
 the apparatus comprises a flexible display over the substrate, the flexible display comprises a backplane, and the antenna layer comprises a portion of the backplane of the flexible display;   the substrate comprises a plastic substrate;   the substrate comprises a thickness of between 0.1 millimeter to 0.5 millimeters; or   the antenna layer comprises a metallization layer over the substrate.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of:
 the substrate comprises at least one of a polyethylene naphthalate material, a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, a polyethersulfone (PES) material, a polyimide material, a cyclic olefin copolymer material, a liquid crystal polymer material, or a polytetrafluoroethylene material;   the antenna layer comprises at least one of an aluminum material, a molybdenum material or a tantalum material; or   the antenna layer defines an antenna comprising at least one of a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, a bowtie antenna, a spiral antenna, or a microstrip patch antenna.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , wherein at least one of:
 when the antenna layer defines the antenna layer comprising the bowtie antenna, the antenna comprises the bowtie antenna having first and second elements and the antenna layer is solid across an entire area of the first and second elements; or   when the antenna layer defines the antenna layer comprising the bowtie antenna, an inner portion of an area of the antenna is devoid of the antenna layer.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the antenna layer comprises a bowtie antenna across at least a portion of the substrate;   the bowtie antenna comprises:
 a first arm coupled to a first portion of the bowtie antenna to route a first current; and 
 a second arm coupled to a second portion of the bowtie antenna to route a second current; 
   the antenna layer further comprises an impedance transformer having a microstrip balun, the microstrip balun comprising:
 a first port coupled to an input of the impedance transformer; 
 a second port coupled to the first arm of the bowtie antenna; and 
 a third port coupled to the second arm of the bowtie antenna; and 
   the microstrip balun is configured to separate current phases of the first and second currents by approximately 180 degrees.   
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the antenna layer comprises a bowtie antenna; and   at least one of:
 the bowtie antenna is impedance matched to minimize a return loss at a target frequency of between approximately 7 gigahertz to approximately 7.5 gigahertz; 
 the bowtie antenna is configured to deliver a gain of approximately 4 dBi to approximately 5 dBi; or 
 a return loss of the bowtie antenna is less than −20 dB. 
   
     
     
         9 . An apparatus comprising:
 a substrate comprising a dielectric material;   one or more layers over the substrate defining one or more semiconductor devices;   wherein:
 the substrate comprises a plastic substrate; 
 the one or more layers comprises a metallization layer; and 
 the one or more semiconductor devices comprise an antenna defined at least in part by the metallization layer. 
   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the substrate is flexible;   the one or more layers are configured to flex with the substrate;   the one or more semiconductor devices further comprise an array of thin film transistors defining a flexible display; and   at least a portion of a structure of the thin film transistors is defined by the metallization layer.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 at least one of:
 a transmitter at the substrate and coupled to the metallization layer, or 
 a receiver at the substrate and coupled to the metallization layer; and 
   a processor coupled to the at least one of the transmitter or the receiver.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of:
 the antenna comprises at least one of a monopole antenna, a dipole antenna, a spiral antenna, or a microstrip patch antenna, and the antenna extends over at least a portion of the substrate; or   the metallization layer is present at a perimeter of the antenna, and an inner area of the antenna is devoid of the metallization layer.   
     
     
         13 . A method comprising:
 providing a flexible substrate; and   providing an antenna layer over the substrate to define an antenna;   wherein:
 the antenna layer is configured to flex with the substrate. 
   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 providing one or more semiconductor devices over the substrate;   wherein:
 providing the antenna layer comprises:
 providing the antenna layer to comprise a portion of a structure of at least one of the one or more semiconductor devices. 
 
   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 providing a flexible display over the substrate;   wherein:
 providing the flexible display comprises:
 forming an array of one or more thin film transistors over the substrate to control pixels of the flexible display; and 
 
 providing the antenna layer comprises:
 providing the antenna layer to form a portion of a structure of the one or more thin film transistors. 
 
   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 providing a flexible display over the substrate, the flexible display having a backplane;   wherein:
 providing the antenna layer comprises:
 providing the antenna to comprise a portion of the backplane of the flexible display. 
 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein:
 providing the flexible substrate comprises:
 providing the flexible substrate to comprise at least one of:
 a polyethylene naphthalate material; 
 a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) material, 
 a polyethersulfone (PES) material; 
 a polyimide material; 
 a cyclic olefin copolymer material; 
 a liquid crystal polymer material; or 
 a polytetrafluoroethylene material; 
 
   and   providing the antenna layer comprises:
 providing the antenna layer to comprise at least one of:
 an aluminum material; 
 a molybdenum material; or 
 a tantalum material. 
 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising at least one of:
 providing a transmitter over the substrate coupled to the antenna layer; or   providing a receiver over the substrate coupled to the antenna layer.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 providing a processor over the substrate coupled to at least one of the transmitter or the receiver;   wherein:
 at least one of providing the transmitter, the receiver, or the processor comprises at least one of:
 forming the transmitter, the receiver, or the processor over the substrate; or 
 coupling the transmitter, the receiver, or the processor as a bare die over the substrate. 
 
   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein:
 providing the antenna layer comprises at least one of:
 providing the antenna to comprise a first arm of the antenna to route a first current, a second arm of the antenna to route a second current, and a balun coupled between the first and second arms of the antenna to separate current phases of the first and second currents; 
 configuring the antenna for at least one of (a) limiting a return loss at a target frequency of between 7 gigahertz to 7.5 gigahertz, (b) delivering a gain of 4 dBi to 5 dBi, or (c) limiting the return loss to less than −20 dB at the target frequency; or 
 providing a material of the antenna layer to be concentrated at a perimeter of the antenna.